


The Shadows Between

by Frangipanidownunder



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Season 11 au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 11:55:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12232329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frangipanidownunder/pseuds/Frangipanidownunder
Summary: Based on the spoiler photo of Mulder at Scully's hospital bed, and the suggestion that she had been there since Season 2.





	The Shadows Between

She woke up in the daylight and saw a newspaper on the chair. She woke up in the darkness and heard her sister humming to herself. She woke up in the shadows between and saw him reading the sports section.  
The nurse’s hand was warm against hers and she wanted to bring it to her face to warm her cheeks and nose. The cold was the worst part. Not being able to tell anyone how she wanted her arms tucked under the sheet. She could hear them, Missy and Bill murmuring but she couldn’t turn towards them to say hi. She could see the nurse, checking the chart but she couldn’t clear her throat to tell her she was thirsty. She could feel the doctor adjusting her drip but she couldn’t open her eyes to let him know it hurt.  
She woke up in the daylight and saw a newspaper on the chair. She saw her badge on the bedside cabinet on top of a battered copy of Moby Dick. She woke up in the darkness and heard snoring, a man, deep and resonant and in the faint grey light through the blinds she saw his bald head. She woke up in the shadows between and saw him flicking through the pages of a magazine, twisting it round to hold it upright. He blew out a breath, a half-whistle.  
It was the smell of coffee that did it. She blinked back the light and opened her lips. The skin stuck together and it was painful to prise them apart. She swallowed at the sudden intake of air and her chest contracted as she coughed. Her body ached but it was good to feel the pain. She squeezed her fingers together, stretching the sinews, clicking out the fatigue of doing nothing. The door opened and a nurse came in carrying a water jug. She gasped and Scully coughed again, trying to talk but nothing came out.  
“Well, hello my dear. It’s so nice to see you awake.” The nurse’s hand was warm and this time she did bring it up to her face. It heated her cheeks and nose and she couldn’t hold back the flow of tears. “Your family will be here soon. They visit every day at the same time.” The nurse ran a damp cloth over Scully’s face and lips. “I’ll send for Dr Hossein. She’ll be so pleased.”  
She woke up in the daylight and saw a newspaper on the chair. She saw her badge on the copy of Moby Dick and next to it sat a small shoebox. She tried to lift her head but she couldn’t find the strength. The nurse told her she’d been asleep for a long time and she could feel the loss of muscle tone in her arms and legs. She couldn’t stay awake for Dr Hossein’s visit. She woke up in the darkness when she heard the door closing. She turned to call out but the person didn’t hear her and she couldn’t stay awake long enough to see who returned. She woke up in the shadows between and saw him, chin on fist looking at something in his other hand. She opened her mouth and tried to speak but he beat her to it.  
“How you feeling?”  
In the grey of the room, she strained to see that he was holding her necklace and she nodded. “Mulder, I don’t remember anything…after Duane Barry.”  
“Doesn’t…doesn’t matter.” He lifted the shoe box down, taking off the lid. Shadows obscured his face. His voice was raspy. “Brought you a present.” He took out the video. “Superstars of the Superbowl.”  
“I knew there was a reason to live,” she said.  
He choked out a laugh then sat back on the chair, covering his face with his hands. “I’ve waited a long time to give you that, Scully.”  
She looked at the back of the video. 1994. “Did I miss Christmas?” Dawn sunlight slipped through the blinds. He dropped his hands and she saw the tears tracking down his face. There were grooves across his forehead, crow’s-feet at his eyes, silver hairs dusted his temples, salt-and-pepper sprinkled his stubble. “Mulder?”  
He sat on her bed and took her hand in his. “It’s okay, Scully. I’ve got the whole collection at my apartment for you. All twenty-three series on Blu-Ray. That’s a high-definition disc. The picture quality is superb and the…” His smile hadn’t changed. If she stretched her mind she could see him smiling at her in the basement office on that first case.  
“What happened?”  
“Technology,” he said, kissing the back of her hand. “Oh, you mean, with you.”  
“Are you telling me I’ve been here for over twenty years?” She let him plump the pillow behind her and helped her sit up a little higher.  
“And you’ve missed the entire Sharknado series, Scully. There’s so much catching up to do. OJ Simpson was convicted of murder and the children of one of his lawyers are now huge reality tv stars. Star Wars has been rebooted. But Carrie Fisher died. One Direction overtook The Beatles as biggest boy band, but then Zayn left. Donald Trump is president.”  
She blinked. “As in Trump Tower? With the hair?”  
He nodded and chuffed out a laugh. “Maybe you should have stayed asleep.”  
She couldn’t hold back the tears. He let her cry until she was dry. He helped her sip water. She lay down, exhausted.  
She woke up in the daylight and her mother smiled, pushing white hair behind her ears. She woke up in the darkness and heard Skinner put his glasses on the bedside cabinet. She woke up in the shadows between and saw him reading Moby Dick by the light of his smart phone.  
“I can’t believe you kept coming back, Mulder.”  
He upturned the book onto his knees. “What I’ve dared, I’ve willed; and what I’ve willed, I’ll do! They think me mad – Starbuck does; but I’m demoniac, I am madness maddened!”  
She shook her head. “There is a wisdom that is woe, but there is a woe that is madness. You waited twenty-three years for me to wake up.”  
“I like a good quest, Scully.” He stood, bent to kiss her. “Besides, I missed you.”


End file.
